


A Place to Teach

by VampirePaladin



Category: Atelier Escha and Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky
Genre: Background Relationships, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 08:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6603550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Escha needs a new atelier to teach her niece.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Place to Teach

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NightsMistress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightsMistress/gifts).



Escha was at her cauldron. Add a little this, then a little that, give it a good swirl until it feels just right and out came a perfect healing salve. She used an old ladle to scoop out the white cream and into a ceramic jar. It dropped out with a particular ploop sound. Escha put the lid on and screwed it tight. The finished salve joined the rest in the box sitting next to her. Pretty much every department liked to keep them on hand for everyday cuts and bruises. Having Escha make them helped save the Colseit branch money. So Escha had to spend one day every quarter just making healing salves to replenish the first aid kits.

There was a giggling at the door of the atelier. Escha pretended that she didn’t hear it. It was hard to keep the little smile off of her face. She couldn’t stop her tail from waving back and forth. The door opened, scraping against the floor. Little feet crossed the atelier and hid behind the cauldron. By this point Escha was only pretending to work on alchemy. Everything was completely safe by her estimate.

“I have you now,” cried a little girl’s voice. A little girl with sandy colored hair struck with her toy sword, courtesy of Logy, at Escha.

Escha may not have been a warrior but she had spent a lot more time traveling and in combat than your average person. When the little girl made her attack Escha was ready. She stepped back and away from the swing, reaching for her own toy sword propped against the wall.

“I will never fall for such a dirty sneak attack, Mari!”

Their two swords clashed. Back and forth they dueled across the atelier. It was a fierce battle the likes of which the atelier had never seen before. It ended the only way it could have: with Mari stabbing Escha with her toy sword and then Escha doing an overly long and elaborate death scene.

“Yippie, I won,” said Mari.

Escha smiled as she got back up and dusted off her skirt. Mari jumped into her arms and gave her a big hug and a sloppy kiss. They always made up like this after one of their duels.

“I love you, Aunt Escha.”

“I love you too, Mari. Do you want to watch me synthesize?”

The little girl nodded her head up and down. Escha put her toy sword away and returned to her cauldron. Mari pulled a chair up next to it. The back was facing the cauldron. Mari scrambled onto it and looked inside with her fingers grasping the top of the stained wooden chair. She watched Escha quietly and intently.

“Aunt Escha, will you teach me how to be an alchemist?”

 

“No, I can’t give you permission,” Marion said from behind her desk. She was no longer the head of R&D but instead the head of the Colseit Branch.

“But Marion, all Marion Jr. can talk about is how much she wants to learn how to be an alchemist,” Linca pleaded. When Linca was told that she could name her daughter after someone dear to her she took it very literally. 

“I won’t use any government resources when teaching her and I’ll do it after finishing my work.”

Marion sighed. She pushed her chair back from the dark, wooden desk, stood up, and walked around to the two women. “Look, I think that it’s great that you want to take on an apprentice, Escha, and I think Mari could make a great alchemist, Linca, but I just can’t authorize teaching a child alchemy in here. Can you honestly tell me that you can teach her without causing a single explosion?”

Escha’s tail drooped. She had caused plenty of explosions in her early days. Even Logy had caused an explosion or two when he first started out. There was no way to give that type of guarantee without it being a complete and total lie.

“I didn’t say that you couldn’t teach her. I just said that you can’t teach her here. If you can find someplace else then I can adjust your workload and schedule so it’s easier for you.”

 

That night Escha was quieter than normal. Through the walk back to the house that she shared with Logy, her husband, and the dinner that they made and ate together she never initiated conversation and while she always responded to what Logy it was shorter than normal.

“Something is bothering you.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

Escha pressed her lips up in a small smile. “I just don’t know what to do. I want to teach Mari alchemy, but I can’t do it at the atelier and we don’t have the room here for one.”

Logy placed his hand on top of Escha’s. “I know you can figure this out and I’ll help you with anything you need.”

Escha gave Logy a peck on the lips. “Thanks, Logy.”

The change in her mood was noticeable and immediate. Her tail was moving more and her normal appetite was back. The conversation was much more animated than before. It was better seeing Escha like this.

“The apple house!” Escha said as they were cleaning up after dinner.

“What about it?”

“I can use the apple house for the second atelier. It’s empty right now and it has more than enough room for a cauldron.”

“What about the ventilation? Is it good enough for alchemy?” Logy wiped a dish off and set it on a rack to dry.

Escha pressed her lips together and thought about it. “No, I don’t think so, but I can ask brother to take a look. He might have some suggestions.”

Logy nodded. The new atelier was for teaching Awin and Linca’s daughter. So he would definitely help out even if it wasn’t Escha asking.

“I think that’s a good idea.”

 

Escha pushed the door open to the apple house and stepped aside so Awin could enter. He went straight to the chimney to take a look at that and then investigated the windows and the ceiling. It was only a one floor building so the ceiling was also the roof. He didn’t say anything but he made occasional noises to himself as he looked the structure over.

“Well,” Escha asked hesitantly, “what do you think?”

“The easy part will be setting up the cauldron, but the ventilation in here is fine for day to day life but it’s just not good enough for alchemy.”

“So we can’t use this building?”

“No, I didn’t say that,” Awin took his glasses off to clean them. “I can make a fume hood and install it above where you want the cauldron to go. Then it’s just a matter of routing the fumes to the chimney. All I need are the materials and I can get started. I’ll put in an order.”

“No,” Escha shook her head “I told Marion that I wouldn’t use any of the Colseit Branch’s resources when doing this. I’ll figure out how to get the materials on my own.”

 

Getting the materials was easier said than done. Escha sat at the kitchen table in her house. She had a book with her and Logy’s financial information recorded into it. Long ago the two had sat down and came up with a system that they could both understand and could work with. Escha still wasn’t the best at this sort of stuff, but she was better than she used to be. 

Logy put a mug of hot apple cider next to Escha. She hadn’t even noticed that he was there until just then.

“Thanks,” said Escha.

“You’re welcome.” Logy sat down in a wooden seat next to hers. “How did the building inspection go?”

“It needs to have a fume hood added. I’m trying to figure out how to afford the materials. Oh, I forgot I need to do the laundry.” The household chores were split between Escha and Logy with the two of them switching off on who did what.

“I already took care of it.”

“Logy,” Escha drew out his name “it was my turn to take care of it.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it. You looked like you were working hard on this.” He wanted to support her. It was hard for him not to just jump in and try to fix everything for her, but he loved her too much to do that. Plus, there was no guarantee he’d do it better. He’d support her to the best of his ability but she’d be the one leading.

“I know what I’ll do,” Escha fetched a pen and some paper. “I can write a letter to Solle. He was also so good with the budget. He might have some ideas.”

 

_Escha Malier,_  
_I find your attempt to create a second atelier for instruction to be promising and the fact that you want to do it without government funding laudable. I have checked into various avenues and have found one that is particularly promising. Harry Olsen runs a charity to fund projects for the enrichment of man. Establishing a second alchemy school away from Central would most likely qualify. I have taken the liberty of sending you an application form._  
_Solle Grumman  
_P.S. Make sure to double check your form before submitting it.__

 

Escha was fast asleep at the kitchen table, her face pressed into a piece of paper. Spread out around her were the forms Solle had sent, lists of various goods and materials with their costs, scratch paper, and even local building laws. She had been working on filling out the form for the past week during her free time. The scratch paper was her work in progress. She had revised it three times and wanted to make sure it was just right before sending it to Harry. There was only one copy of the form and no easy way to get a replacement if she messed up so she was putting far more care and effort than she had any other.

Logy walked up to, trying not to make too much noise. He pulled her chair back just a touch, put one hand beneath her legs and the other around her upper torso before lifting her up. Carefully he carried her through the house and upstairs, putting her on their bed and covering her with a cheery colored quilt.

He went back downstairs to the kitchen table and leant over, checking over all of her work. He just couldn’t help himself. She was so determined to get this done herself and he didn’t want to see her face a set back because of a mistake in her paperwork. He found the scratch paper with her most recent version. Logy checked everything and then double checked it again. 

Mentally Logy apologized to Escha. He should have had a little more faith in her. Everything was perfect and could be transferred onto the form when she woke up.

 

It was done. The fume hood had been installed and tested thoroughly. A shiny new cauldron that had never been used for synthesis was in place. There were plenty of shelves and boxes to store supplies. One shelf contained some of her old reference books. It was just perfect.

“What do you think Logy?” Escha spread her arms indicating everything.

“I’m really impressed. You really did a good job in arranging all of this.”

“Thanks. I wanted to include equipment so you could teach her your style of alchemy but I couldn’t afford it in the budget.”

“No, you did perfect with what you had. But I think you need one more thing.”

“What’s that, Logy?”

Logy went over to a corner where he had left a long thin package wrapped in brown paper. He had come here earlier in the day to leave it there. Logy brought it to Escha and held it out to her.

“I made something for you. I hope you like it.” 

Escha gave Logy a curious look before she tore off the brown paper. It was a long, reinforced spoon, the type that was used for alchemical synthesis.

“Logy, it’s perfect.” Escha launched herself into Logy’s arms and put a kiss on his lips.

Now, she had everything she needed to start teaching alchemy.


End file.
